AU2019245807A1 - Process for making a mixed metal oxide - Google Patents

Process for making a mixed metal oxide Download PDF

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AU2019245807A1
AU2019245807A1 AU2019245807A AU2019245807A AU2019245807A1 AU 2019245807 A1 AU2019245807 A1 AU 2019245807A1 AU 2019245807 A AU2019245807 A AU 2019245807A AU 2019245807 A AU2019245807 A AU 2019245807A AU 2019245807 A1 AU2019245807 A1 AU 2019245807A1
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hydroxide
oxyhydroxide
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Joerg Heilek
Benedikt KALO
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BASF SE
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M4/00—Electrodes
    • H01M4/02—Electrodes composed of, or comprising, active material
    • H01M4/36—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids
    • H01M4/48—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids of inorganic oxides or hydroxides
    • H01M4/52—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids of inorganic oxides or hydroxides of nickel, cobalt or iron
    • H01M4/525—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids of inorganic oxides or hydroxides of nickel, cobalt or iron of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing iron, cobalt or nickel for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiNiO2, LiCoO2 or LiCoOxFy
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01G—COMPOUNDS CONTAINING METALS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C01D OR C01F
    • C01G53/00—Compounds of nickel
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    • C01G—COMPOUNDS CONTAINING METALS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C01D OR C01F
    • C01G53/00—Compounds of nickel
    • C01G53/40—Complex oxides containing nickel and at least one other metal element
    • C01G53/42—Complex oxides containing nickel and at least one other metal element containing alkali metals, e.g. LiNiO2
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
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    • C01G—COMPOUNDS CONTAINING METALS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C01D OR C01F
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    • C01G53/40—Complex oxides containing nickel and at least one other metal element
    • C01G53/42—Complex oxides containing nickel and at least one other metal element containing alkali metals, e.g. LiNiO2
    • C01G53/44—Complex oxides containing nickel and at least one other metal element containing alkali metals, e.g. LiNiO2 containing manganese
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    • C01G—COMPOUNDS CONTAINING METALS NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C01D OR C01F
    • C01G53/00—Compounds of nickel
    • C01G53/80—Compounds containing nickel, with or without oxygen or hydrogen, and containing one or more other elements
    • C01G53/82—Compounds containing nickel, with or without oxygen or hydrogen, and containing two or more other elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M10/00—Secondary cells; Manufacture thereof
    • H01M10/05—Accumulators with non-aqueous electrolyte
    • H01M10/052—Li-accumulators
    • H01M10/0525—Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
    • H01M4/00—Electrodes
    • H01M4/02—Electrodes composed of, or comprising, active material
    • H01M4/36—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids
    • H01M4/48—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids of inorganic oxides or hydroxides
    • H01M4/50—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids of inorganic oxides or hydroxides of manganese
    • H01M4/505—Selection of substances as active materials, active masses, active liquids of inorganic oxides or hydroxides of manganese of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing manganese for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiMn2O4 or LiMn2OxFy
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
    • C01P2002/00—Crystal-structural characteristics
    • C01P2002/50—Solid solutions
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    • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
    • C01P2002/00—Crystal-structural characteristics
    • C01P2002/50—Solid solutions
    • C01P2002/52—Solid solutions containing elements as dopants
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
    • C01P2004/00—Particle morphology
    • C01P2004/51—Particles with a specific particle size distribution
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
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    • C01P2004/60—Particles characterised by their size
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    • C01P2004/60—Particles characterised by their size
    • C01P2004/61—Micrometer sized, i.e. from 1-100 micrometer
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
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    • C01P2004/60—Particles characterised by their size
    • C01P2004/62—Submicrometer sized, i.e. from 0.1-1 micrometer
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    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
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    • C01P—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF SOLID INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
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    • C01P2006/80—Compositional purity
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
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    • C01P2006/00—Physical properties of inorganic compounds
    • C01P2006/80—Compositional purity
    • C01P2006/82—Compositional purity water content
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
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    • H01M4/00—Electrodes
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    • H01M2004/021—Physical characteristics, e.g. porosity, surface area
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
    • Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries

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Abstract

Process for making a mixed metal oxide, said process comprising the following steps: (a)providing a hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM with an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 0.1 µm to 5mm, (b)subjecting said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C, wherein TM contains nickel andat least one further transition metal selected from cobalt and manganese.

Description

Process for making a mixed metal oxide
The present invention is directed towards a process for making a mixed metal oxide, said pro- cess comprising the following steps:
(a)providing a hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM with an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 0.1 pm to 5 mm,
(b)subjecting said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C,
wherein TM contains nickel and at least one further transition metal selected from cobalt and manganese.
Lithium ion secondary batteries are modern devices for storing energy. Many application fields have been and are contemplated, from small devices such as mobile phones and laptop com- puters through car batteries and other batteries for e-mobility. Various components of the batter- ies have a decisive role with respect to the performance of the battery such as the electrolyte, the electrode materials, and the separator. Particular attention has been paid to the cathode materials. Several materials have been suggested, such as lithium iron phosphates, lithium co- bait oxide, lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxides, and lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxides. Although extensive research has been performed the solutions found so far still leave room for improvement.
In many cases, lithium-containing mixed transition metal oxides are used as the active material. Very commonly used cathode active materials are lithiated nickel cobalt aluminium oxides (“NCA”) and lithiated nickel cobalt manganese oxides (“NCM”). Such materials are generally produced by first producing a precursor, for example a mixed carbonate or mixed oxyhydroxide or mixed hydroxide of nickel and cobalt, and, optionally, aluminum or manganese, and mixing the precursor with a lithium compound, for example with LiOH or L12CO3, and then treating the mixture thermally at temperatures in the range from 750 to 1000°C. The latter step is also re- ferred to as calcination.
It is desirable, though, to improve the throughput in the calcination step. Long residence times are undesirable because the energy consumption is high. It has been suggested to pre-calcine the precursor, for example in a rotary kiln or in a roller hearth kiln. However, such pre- calcination also requires a lot of energy. In addition, the investment for an extra oven is high.
It was therefore an objective to provide a process that overcomes the disadvantages outlined above.
Accordingly, the process as defined at the outset has been found, hereinafter also referred to as inventive process or process according to the present invention. The inventive process corn- prises the steps of
(a) providing a hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM with an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 0.1 pm to 5 mm, (b) subjecting said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C,
wherein TM contains nickel and at least one further transition metal selected from cobalt and manganese.
The above steps will hereinafter also be referred to as step (a) or step (b), respectively.
Step (a) includes providing a hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM wherein TM contains nickel and at least one further transition metal selected from cobalt and manganese. Hydroxides and oxy- hydroxides of TM are known per se. They may be obtained by co-precipitation of TM with alkali metal hydroxide in the absence or presence of ammonia. Oxyhydroxides in the context of the present invention are not limited to such species with a molar ratio of oxide and hydroxide of 1 : 1 but include all species TM(0)XI(OH)X2 with both x1 *0 and x2 * 0. TM has an oxidation state of at least 2.0.
The average particle diameter (D50) in the context of the present invention refers to the median of the volume-based particle diameter, as can be determined, for example, by light scattering. The average particle diameter (D50) of hydroxide or oxyhydroxide provided according to step (a) is in the range of from 0.1 pm to 5 mm, preferably from 1 pm to 1 mm, more preferably from 2 pm to 25 pm and even more preferably from 3 pm to 15 pm.
The particle diameter distribution of hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM may be narrow or broad. The particle diameter distribution - hereinafter also referred to as particle size distribution - may be expressed as ratio of (D90 - D10)/D50 and may be in the range of from 1.0 to 1.3 - corre- sponding to a narrow particle size distribution, or it may be from 1.4 to 1.6 or even more - cor- responding to a broad particle size distribution.
Said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide may be provided as particles dispersed in a liquid, as a paste or as a slurry or as a particulate material. A particulate material may be obtained by filtration of a freshly co-precipitated hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM, or it may be obtained by a spray-drying process of a freshly co-precipitated hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM, or by a combination of filtration, washing and spray-drying of a co-precipitated hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM. Parti- cles dispersed in a liquid may have a total solids content of 0.1 to 10% by weight. A paste or slurry may be obtained by incomplete removal of liquid after co-precipitation. Slurries and parti- cles dispersed in a liquid preferably are aqueous slurries or particles dispersed in water, respec- tively. Aqueous slurries may have a total solids content in the range of from 10 to 60 % by weight, and pastes - preferably aqueous pastes - may have a total solids content in the range of from 61 to 95 % by weight, each determined by drying a sample of 100 g or less in air atmos- phere at 200 °C for 3 hours. In one embodiment of the present invention TM contains at least 15 mole-% Ni, preferably at least 50 mole-% and even more preferably at least 60 mole-%. In one embodiment of the pre- sent invention, the maximum Ni contents in TM is 99 mole-%, preferably 95 mole-%.
Said TM may contain traces of other metal ions, for example traces of ubiquitous metals such as sodium, Ca or Zn, but such traces will not be taken into account in the description of the pre- sent invention. Traces in this context will mean amounts of 0.05 mol-% or less, referring to the total metal content of TM.
TM may contain one or more metals other than transition metals, for example Mg, Al or Ba or a combination of at least two of the foregoing.
In one embodiment of the present invention, TM contains Ni, Co and Al. In another embodiment of the present invention, TM contains Ni, Co and Mn.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, TM is a combination of metals according to general formula (I)
NiaCObMricMd (I) with
a being in the range of from 0.2 to 0.95, preferably 0.33 to 0.8,
b being in the range of from 0.025 to 0.4, preferably 0.1 to 0.33,
c being in the range of from zero to 0.6, preferably 0.1 to 0.33, and
d being in the range of from zero to 0.2, preferably 0.001 to 0.005,
M selected from Ba, Al, Ti, Zr, W, Fe, Cr, K, Mo, Nb, Mg, Na and V, including combinations of at least two of the foregoing, preferably M is selected from Al, W, Ti and Zr and combinations of at least two of the foregoing, and a + b + c + d = 1.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, TM is selected from
NihCoAlj
Typical values for h, i and j are:
h is in the range of from 0.8 to 0.90,
i is in the range of from 0.15 to 0.19, and
j is in the range of from 0.01 to 0.05. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, TM is selected from Ni0.33Co0.33Mn0.33, Nio.5Coo.2Mno.3, Nio.6Coo.2Mno.2, Nio.sCoo.-iMno.-i, and Ni0.7Co0.2Mn0.-i. In another embodiment, TM is selected from Nio.2Coo.iMno.7, Nio.25Coo.i5Mno.6 and Nio.4Coo.2Mno.4,
(Nio.85COo.15)o.97Alo.03, and (Nίq.85qqq.15)q.95AIq.05·
In step (b) of the inventive process, said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is subjected to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C, preferably it is in the range of 300 to 1500 °C, more preferably in the range of 350 to 900 °C. The gas temperature is determined at the beginning of step (b) and decreases in the course of the interaction with said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM during step (b). At the beginning of said step (b), said gas stream may also be referred to as“feed gas stream”.
By subjecting hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas said hydroxide or oxyhydrox- ide of TM is moved through a reactor, and both chemically bound and physically adsorbed wa- ter is removed from said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM. Formation of an oxide or oxyhydrox- ide of TM with low residual moisture is observed, for example with a residual moisture content in the range of from 0.01 to 1 % by weight, determined by weight loss at 150°C under CC>2-free air for three hours.
Step (b) is performed in a reactor. Such reactor may have any shape provided such shape al- lows for the transport of particles of hydroxide or oxyhydroxide and of oxide of TM.
Step (b) may be carried out in various ways. It is possible to carry out the inventive process in a fluidized bed, especially in a spouted bed. In the course of the removal of water, larger particles break up to smaller particles, for example with an average diameter in the range of from 0.1 to 25 pm, preferably 2 to 20 pm, and they are removed pneumatically from the reaction vessel. After such removal, they are collected in a device for removing dust from off-gas, for example an electrostatic dust precipitator, to a cyclone, or to gas-solid filter units, for example a baghouse filter, especially a fabric baghouse filter.
In a preferred embodiment, step (b) is carried out as flash dehydration. Such flash dehydration is performed in a tubular reactor or pipe that may be installed vertically or horizontally or in an installation combining both a horizontally and vertically installed pipe. Preferred is a vertically installed pipe. The stream of gas moves the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM along the tubular reactor or pipe, preferably as pneumatic transport. During such pneumatic transport, larger par- ticles - if present - may break up to smaller particles, for example with an average diameter in the range of from 2 to 20 pm, preferably 2 to 10 pm.
In a preferred embodiment, step (b) is carried out as spin flash dehydration. Such spin flash dehydration is performed in a tubular reactor or pipe when the entrained flow main direction of the gas stream is circulation around a center axis. The circulation motion may be enforced by a rotating shaft with flights, paddles or blades, along the center axis of the reactor. The gas used for the gas stream may be selected from air, oxygen, oxygen-enriched air, oxy- gen-depleted air, nitrogen, mixtures from argon and air or from argon and nitrogen, flue gas, and pre-treated air. Preferred are flue gas, nitrogen, air and pre-treated air. In the context of the present invention, the term“pre-treated air” refers to air with a carbon dioxide content of 0.1 to 500 ppm. Preferred in pre-treated air is a carbon dioxide content in the range of from 0.1 to 50 ppm by weight. Preferred are air, a mixture of air and oxygen, and flue gas.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the feed gas stream has a CO2 content in the range of from 0.1 to 500 ppm by weight. Such feed gas streams may be selected from air, oxy- gen, oxygen-enriched air, oxygen-depleted air, nitrogen, mixtures from argon and air or from argon and nitrogen.
In embodiments wherein the feed gas stream is flue gas the CO2 content is usually higher than 500 ppm by weight.
Depending on the characteristics and especially on the water content of the hydroxide or oxy- hydroxide of TM, it may be contacted with the gas stream in different ways. For solids, a screw conveyor, a vibrating chute or a rotary valve may be applied. In embodiments wherein hydrox- ide or oxyhydroxide of TM is provided dispersed in a liquid or as a slurry, spray nozzles may be applied. For slurries or pastes, gas enforced nozzles may be applied, e.g. using steam as dis- persion aid medium. The solid feed may be injected before or after heating the gas stream. Preferably, hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is injected into the gas stream after heating said gas stream.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the gas stream in step (b) has a velocity sufficient to pneumatically transport the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM together with the mixed metal oxide - and, optionally, together with LiOH hydrate and anhydrous lithium hydrox- ide or lithium carbonate - through the reactor. The velocity of the gas stream may be in a range of from 1 m/s to 100 m/s, preferably it is in a range of from 5 m/s to 35 m/s at process condi- tions, referring to velocity in an empty tube.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the average residence time of the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM in the reactor in which step (b) is performed is in the range of from 0.1 sec- onds to 10 minutes, preferably from 0.5 seconds up to 5 minutes and even more preferred from 1 second to 2 minutes. The average residence time refers to the average time that the oxide of TM - as such or as hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM - spends in the stream of gas. Preferably, the average residence time is defined by the time period during which the particles of oxide of TM - as such or as hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM - are airborne and conveyed by the gas stream (from initial dispersion after dosage to the removal from the gas stream. If desired, it is useful to combine a comparably low temperature of the gas stream with a higher residence time, for example 200 to 250°C and an average residence time from 8 to 10 minutes.
On the other hand, if a comparable short residence time is the target, a higher gas stream tem- perature is required, for example 0.1 to 5 seconds and 1000 to 2000°C.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the gas stream may be heated by a combustion reaction within the respective gas stream, for example using a natural gas burner. In another embodiment of the present invention, the gas stream may be heated electrically by heating el- ements being in direct contact with the gas stream. In another embodiment of the present inven- tion, the gas stream may be heated using a heat exchanger with the heat being supplied either by flue gas from a combustion reaction or electrical heating. Combinations of at least two of the foregoing are possible as well.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the gas stream is pre-heated by a heat ex- changer recovering the heat of the off-gas stream after gas-solid separation.
The heat transfer to liquids and solids is dominated by convective and radiative heat transfer.
In one embodiment of the present invention, in step (b) said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is subjected to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C in the ab- sence of lithium compounds such as LiOH-aq or U2CO3.
In one embodiment of the present invention, in step (b) said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is subjected to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C together with LiOH-aq or U2CO3. In the context of the present invention, LiOH-aq - or hydrate of LiOH - does not only refer to lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH-hhO but also to materials that con- tain less or more water such as partly dehydrated monohydrate or moist lithium hydroxide mon- ohydrate. The upper limit of water content is determined by the phase change from solid to liq uid. Preferably, the average formula is LiOH-x H2O with x being in the range of from 0.8 to 1.2. Even more preferred is stoichiometric LiOH-hhO.
If applicable, LiOH-aq or L12CO3 is provided as particulate material.
The term“particulate” in the context of LiOH-aq or U2CO3 refers to a material with an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 100 nm to 5 mm, preferably 1 pm to 1 mm and even more preferably from 5 pm to 1 mm. Such material may be obtained by breaking up commer- cially available LiOH-aq or L12CO3, for example by milling. Non-limiting examples of suitable mills are air classifier mills, jet mills, pin mills, and rotor-stator mills.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the amount of LiOH-aq or L12CO3 added corre- sponds to the amount of lithium required for the manufacture of cathode active material. A reac- tion between oxide or (oxy)hydroxide of TM and LiOH-aq or U2CO3 in step (b) usually does not occur due to the short residence time.
After finishing step (b) of the inventive process, work-up steps may follow, for example cooling the resultant oxide of TM, and one or more gas-solid-separation steps.
At the end of step (b), the resultant oxide of TM so obtained may be recovered and cooled to ambient temperature under inert gas or air, for example nitrogen or air with a carbon dioxide content of 0.01 to 500 ppm. Recovery of oxide of TM is achieved by gas-solid separation.
Gas solid-separation may be conducted by all techniques known perse. Preferred means for gas-solid separation are cyclones and filters, with baghouse filters being preferred.
In a preferred embodiment, the gas stream may be cooled by mixing it with additional gas at lower temperature level, before entering a dust precipitator, for example a baghouse filter, or cyclone separator. Subsequently, water may be condensed by directly or indirectly cooling the gas stream. After having removed the water at least partially, the gas may be released to the atmosphere or may be re-used in the inventive process.
In one embodiment of the present invention, after step (b), the gas stream is quenched. The gas stream may be quenched before or after a gas-solid separation. It preferably is quenched be- fore gas-solid separation. Quenching may be conducted by mixing the heated gas stream with cooler gas, preferably gas at ambient temperature. Preferably, the cooler gas is air, pre-treated air, or nitrogen. Quenching may also be conducted by injection of a liquid into the heated gas stream and evaporating the liquid. Preferably, the liquid is water, more preferably, the liquid is demineralized water.
The mixed oxide resulting from the inventive process may be cooled to a temperature as low as ambient temperature or to a higher temperature, for example it may be separated from the gas stream at 300 to 400 °C without further cooling after gas-solid separation. The product separat- ed from the gas stream at 300 to 400 °C may be transferred to succeeding process steps for cathode active material manufacture without further cooling. The succeeding process steps may include calcination. If a succeeding process step includes calcination, it is preferred to transfer the product to the calcination step without further cooling after gas-solid separation at 300 to 400 °C.
So-called anhydrous oxide of TM obtained according to the inventive process may have a re- sidual moisture content of 0.01 to 1 % by weight, determined by weight loss at 150°C under C02-free air for three hours. The CO2 content was checked by optical measurements based upon infrared light. It may be advantageously used for the manufacture of cathode active mate- rials for lithium ion batteries, for example after mixing with a compound of lithium such as LhO, LiOH or U2CO3.

Claims

Patent Claims
1. Process for making a mixed metal oxide, said process comprising the following steps:
(a) providing a hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM with an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 0.1 pm to 5 mm,
(b) subjecting said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas with a tempera- ture in the range of from 150 to 2000°C,
wherein TM contains nickel and at least one further transition metal selected from co- balt and manganese.
2. Process according to claim 1 wherein the step of subjecting hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C is performed in a tubular reactor.
3. Process according to claim 1 or 2 wherein in step (a) said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is provided as a solid dispersed in water, as a slurry, as a paste or as particulate ma- terial.
4. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein in step (b) said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is subjected to a stream of gas with a temperature in the range of from 150 to 2000°C together with LiOH-aq or U2CO3.
5. Process according to claim 4 wherein LiOH-aq or U2CO3, respectively, has an average particle diameter (D50) in the range of from 2 pm to 100 pm.
6. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein the gas stream is air, a mixture of air and oxygen or a flue gas.
7. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein the gas stream has a velocity sufficient to pneumatically transport the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM together with the mixed metal oxide - and, optionally, together with LiOH-aq or L12CO3 and anhydrous lithi- um hydroxide - through the reactor.
8. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein the feed gas stream contains 0.1 to 500 ppm by weight CO2.
9. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein the average residence time of the hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM is in the range of from 0.1 seconds to 10 minutes.
10. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein the stream of gas has a tem- perature in the range of from 350 to 900°C.
1 1 . Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein said hydroxide or oxyhydroxide of TM with an average particle diameter in the range of from 2 pm to 25 pm.
12. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein TM contains at least 15 mole-% Ni.
13. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein TM contains Ni, Co and Al.
14. Process according to any of the preceding claims wherein TM has a composition accord- ing to general formula (I)
(NiaCObMnc)i-dMd (I) with
a being in the range of from 0.2 to 0.95,
b being in the range of from 0.025 to 0.4,
c being in the range of from zero to 0.6, and
d being in the range of from zero to 0.2,
M is Mg, Al, Ba, W, Ti or Zr or a combination of at least two of the foregoing, and a + b + c = 1.
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